{"slug": "antioch-officer-under-scrutiny-for-punching-woman-during-scuffle", "title": "Antioch officer under scrutiny for punching woman during scuffle", "summary": "An Antioch police officer punched a 41-year-old woman in the head during a homeless encampment cleanup after she bit him on the shoulder, prompting a use-of-force review. The woman, Frenchie Hardy, was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, and the officer was placed on paid administrative leave pending an independent investigation.", "body_md": "**Getting your**\n\n[Trinity Audio](//trinityaudio.ai)player ready...ANTIOCH — A use-of-force review is underway in Antioch after an officer punched a woman who reportedly bit him during a homeless encampment cleanup last week, police said.\n\nThe incident happened July 1 at Waldie Plaza, located at 206 G St., Antioch police Lt. Gary Lowther said in a news release.\n\nLowther said officers were at the plaza to provide security and support to city code enforcement personnel and a contracted cleanup crew. At the same time, BNSF Railway was cleaning up a separate homeless encampment on its adjacent railroad right-of-way.\n\nSeveral people moved from the BNSF property to Waldie Plaza during the cleanup, Lowther said, adding that they included a 41-year-old woman, who confronted the contracted cleanup crew.\n\nLowther said officers intervened and gave the woman repeated verbal commands to move away from the crew so the cleanup could safely continue, but she did not comply.\n\nAs officers arrested the woman for interfering with their duties, she bit one of them on the shoulder, Lowther said.\n\n“The officer responded with a physical strike to stop the assault and placed her under arrest,” he said.\n\nVideo of the incident shows two officers struggling with the woman, with one of them punching her in the head before taking her to the ground.\n\n“He socked me directly me in my temple,” the woman, identified as Frenchie Hardy, [told NBC Bay Area](https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/antioch-cop-punches-unhoused-woman/4110372/). “I went to jail with a black eye. I still have a blood clot.”\n\nHardy said she had been arguing with officers over being given just five minutes to clear out her belongings, the news station reported.\n\n“He grabbed me and he pulled my arm back,” she said. “I felt some pop in my arm, and I bit him. He punched me in the face.”\n\nThe woman was arrested on suspicion of resisting, delaying or obstructing a law enforcement officer and resisting a law enforcement officer with violence. She was later booked into Contra Costa County jail.\n\nLowther said the police department’s U.S. Department of Justice consultant and Internal Affairs Division have been advised of the use-of-force incident. The police department also plans to report the incident to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, as well as assign an independent investigator to review the incident.\n\nThe officer will be placed on paid administrative leave, Lowther said. He has not been publicly identified.\n\n“Any use of force by our officers is taken seriously,” Antioch police Chief Joe Vigil said in a statement Tuesday. “This incident will be fully reviewed under our use of force policy, state law, and our department’s current independent oversight framework.”\n\nAnyone with information related to the case can contact the police department at 925-778-2441.\n\n*Check back for updates.*", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/antioch-officer-under-scrutiny-for-punching-woman-during-scuffle", "canonical_source": "https://www.mercurynews.com/2026/07/07/antioch-officer-under-scrutiny-for-punching-woman-during-scuffle/", "published_at": "2026-07-08 05:04:41+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-08 05:30:35.789674+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy"], "entities": ["Antioch Police Department", "Gary Lowther", "Frenchie Hardy", "Joe Vigil", "BNSF Railway", "Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office", "NBC Bay Area", "U.S. Department of Justice"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/antioch-officer-under-scrutiny-for-punching-woman-during-scuffle", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/antioch-officer-under-scrutiny-for-punching-woman-during-scuffle.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/antioch-officer-under-scrutiny-for-punching-woman-during-scuffle.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/antioch-officer-under-scrutiny-for-punching-woman-during-scuffle.jsonld"}}